Magners League: Round 16 Review
In an exciting weekend that saw Munster come tantalising close to claiming the Magners League title, it was appropriate that their out-half Ronan O’Gara should pass the 500-point barrier in his Magners League career, becoming the ninth player to achieve that landmark.
Elsewhere, Tommy Bowe’s touchdown for the Ospreys on Saturday, whilst not enough to give his team the victory they needed in their challenge for the title, did in fact make him the Magners League’s all-time top try scorer.
The destiny of this season’s silverware could be decided on Thursday night, as the Ospreys must secure a maximum-point victory to keep up the pressure on Munster.
2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 16:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
9 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
8 – Keith Earls (Munster)
7 – Fionn Carr (Connacht), Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Doug Howlett (Munster)
5 – Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Martin Roberts (Scarlets), Niall Ronan (Munster), Simon Webster (Edinburgh)
4 – Lee Byrne (Ospreys), Darren Cave (Ulster), Rocky Elsom (Leinster), Deacon Manu (Scarlets), Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons), Shane Williams (Ospreys)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
161 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (19 conversions and 41 penalty goals)
120 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2 tries, 19 conversions, 23 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
117 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9 conversions, 30 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)
113 – James Hook (Ospreys) (3 tries, 16 conversions, 21 penalty goals and 1 drop goal), Ian Keatley (Connacht) (1 try, 12 conversions, 26 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
104 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (2 tries, 14 conversions and 22 penalty goals)
84 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 11 conversions and 19 penalty goals)
83 – Paul Warwick (Munster) (2 tries, 17 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
74 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 9 conversions and 17 penalty goals)
72 – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (1 try, 14 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
65 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (13 conversions, 12 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
55 – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (5 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
52 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (5 conversions, 12 penalty goals and 2 drop goals), Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 7 conversions and 11 penalty goals)
51 – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (6 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
81.82% – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (18 successful kicks out of 22 attempts)
80.77% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (42/52)
75% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (36/48)
73.17% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (60/82), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (30/41)
72.22% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (26/36)
72% – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (18/25)
71.43% – Paul Warwick (Munster) (30/42)
69.44% – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (25/36)
68.52% – James Hook (Ospreys) (37/54)
67.50% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (27/40)
65.52% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (38/58)
60% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (9/15)
57.89% – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors) (11/19)
57.58% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (19/33)
56.52% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (39/69)
54.84% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (17/31)
53.33% – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (16/30)
Qual: 10 place-kicks at goal
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, April 24, 2009 at Musgrave Park
Munster (17) 29: Ian Dowling(T), David Wallace(T), Keith Earls(T), Denis Leamy(T), Ronan O’Gara(3C/P/)
Scarlets (3) 10: Martin Roberts(T), Stephen Jones(C), Rhys Priestland(P)
Attendance: 8.500
Munster v Scarlets Match Report
Friday, April 24, 2009 at Ravenhill
Ulster (6) 9: Niall O’Connor(D/P), Clinton Schifcofske(P)
Cardiff Blues (11) 11: James Loxton(T), Ceri Sweeney(2P)
Attendance: 7,809
Ulster v Cardiff Blues Match Report
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys (17) 30: Shane Williams(T), Tommy Bowe(T), Lee Byrne(T), Huw Bennett(T), Dan Biggar(2C/2P)
Edinburgh (10) 32: Ben Cairns(2T), Simon Webster(T), Jim Hamilton(T), Phil Godman(C), Chris Paterson(2C/2P)
Attendance: 6.015
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the RDS
Leinster (8) 36: Rocky Elsom(T), Shane Horgan(T), Sean O’Brien(2T), Jonathan Sexton(T), Felipe Contepomi(4C/P)
Glasgow Warriors (13) 13: Kelly Brown(T), Lome Fa’atau(T), Ruaridh Jackson(P)
Attendance: 10,910
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday, April 26, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (10) 27: Joe Bearman(T), Rhodri Gomer Davies(T), Rhys Thomas(T), James Arlidge(3C/2P)
Connacht (0) 14: Fionn Carr(T), Keith Matthews(T), Ian Keatley(2C)
Attendance: 5,233
Newport Gwent Dragons v Connacht Match Report